Photos: New tech from HP Labs India

HP Labs India's Gesture Keyboard

The Hewlett-Packard Labs India team demonstrated some of its innovations at a presentation Thursday at HP's R&D headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Indian team has created the Gesture Keyboard, which uses handwriting-recognition software. The keyboard is developed specifically for people who speak Hindi or the state language Kannada. People can write on the keyboard in the way they learned to write as a child, and for this reason, training time on the board takes only 10 minutes.

Published: July 20, 2006 -- 14:49 GMT (07:49 PDT)

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

HP's Gesture Keyboard

HP Labs India's Gesture Keyboard debuted two weeks ago and sells for about $50. The keyboard caters to two languages--Hindi and Kannada, the state language--but the company said it will develop software for all 14 national dialects of India.

HP believes this technology will lower the barriers for many people to get access to the vast amount of data online that the government and universities have contributed.

Published: July 20, 2006 -- 14:49 GMT (07:49 PDT)

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

HP Labs India also demonstrated Printcast

HP Labs India also demonstrates Printcast, a technology for porting encoded content files alongside broadcasts, so viewers can print material they've seen on TV. Many Indian children and adults get an education through distance learning TV programs developed by the government, and HP's Printcast would let teachers, homemakers or community organizations print supplemental transcripts of the programs. The technology embeds content into an MPEG 2 file, which is then delivered to a device that can unwrap the data and send it to an attached printer.

HP Labs India's Gesture Keyboard

The Hewlett-Packard Labs India team demonstrated some of its innovations at a presentation Thursday at HP's R&D headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Indian team has created the Gesture Keyboard, which uses handwriting-recognition software. The keyboard is developed specifically for people who speak Hindi or the state language Kannada. People can write on the keyboard in the way they learned to write as a child, and for this reason, training time on the board takes only 10 minutes.